There have been used a removable ink container, for instance, in a stencil printer for the reason of easiness in handling or the like. The above-mentioned ink containers are removed when the ink therein is exhausted to be discarded or to be recycled and a new ink container is mounted on the stencil printer thereafter to continuously make print.
For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10(1998)-133529, there is proposed an ink container provided with a storage means such as an IC memory, and the consumption of the ink and/or the date and time of use of the ink, for instance, in a stencil printer in which the ink container is installed is stored in the IC memory. Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10(1998)-133529, there is proposed a method of obtaining information on the using conditions of, for instance, the stencil printer by reading out the date and time of use of the ink and the consumption of the ink thus stored in the memory IC.
Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10(1998)-133529, there is proposed a method of obtaining data from the memory IC in non-contact by providing the memory IC on the ink container with a data communication portion which reads out and transmits data stored in the memory IC, and by providing a stencil printer in which the ink container is installed with a read-out means having an antenna or the like for receiving the data transmitted from the data communication portion.
However, when the data is to be read out in non-contact from the memory IC, it is difficult to suitably deliver and receive the data unless the memory IC provided with the data communication portion and the read-out means provided with the antenna are within a limited space.
Further, not only in the case where the data is to be read out in non-contact from the memory IC, but also in the case where the data is to be read out through a connector or the like from the memory IC, it is necessary to hold the space between the memory IC and the read-out means within a limited distance according to, for instance, the shape of the connector connecting the memory IC and the read-out means.
Further, since the ink container can be bulged when the components of the ink filled in the ink container are soaked therein, there is a fear that the memory IC can be brought into contact with the read-out means to be damaged by bulging of the ink container if the space between the read-out means and the memory IC is fixed too small. Accordingly, it is necessary to set wide the space between the read-out means and the memory IC, which gives rise to a problem that the sensitivity of the antenna deteriorates.
In order to detect at a high sensitivity with the read-out means, it is preferred that the surface on which the memory IC is mounted in the ink container and the surface on which the read-out means is mounted be parallel to each other. However, the surface on which the memory IC is mounted can incline due to the ink container manufacturing error, and when such inclination fluctuate, it is difficult to make the surface on which the memory IC is mounted and the surface on which the read-out means is mounted parallel to each other and to detect at a high sensitivity and delivery and receipt of data between the read-out means and the memory IC sometimes cannot be suitably performed.
In view of the foregoing observations and description, the primary object of the present invention is to provide an ink container loading structure formed by an above-mentioned ink container and an above-mentioned ink container loading portion described above, an ink container loading portion, and an ink container, where delivery and receipt of data between the read-out means and the storage means can be always suitably performed by suitably positioning the read-out means and the storage means.